prevention pill

Dec 24, 2007

I was in a relationship with thelove of my life, we broke up and he hooked up with a guy that was positive, in return know my ex is positive we are in love still after 3 years apart and he was honest with telling me his status, but im scared to death. Is there a pill one can take to prevent themselves from becomming HIV +, or a pill you can take after the fact of making love with someone you love that is positive???

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello,

The recommended best prevention method remains the proper use of latex or polyurethane condoms for penetrative sex. Clinical trails are underway to evaluate the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). You could consider enrolling in one of these clinical trials, but you should not assume the treatment is indeed effective. Also this therapy even if proven to be effective is being evaluated as protection against occasional accidental exposures, not routine repeated exposures.

If you do have an accidental significant HIV exposure from, say, a condom failure, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is available. This involves taking a combination of antiretroviral drugs for 28 days and then getting follow-up HIV tests out to six months. This therapy is not 100% effective. There are documented PEP failures. One way magnetic couples are decreasing transmission risk is by driving the plasma viral load down to undetectable levels. This decreases the risk of transmission, although it does not completely eliminate it.

I would suggest both you and your lover review the information on magnetic couples and HIV transmission in the archives of this forum. Your partner's HIV specialist should also be an excellent reference for information for you both. From personal experience I can tell you HIV should not derail your plans for the future.

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